Good to hear you are on the mend, even if slowly. Looking foward to the day you return to modelling and Wasp continues her transformation from kit to display status on the lounge room coffee table or in my case, if I'm lucky, top of the cystal cabinet in the kitchen and then under some sufferance.

I tried uploading this last night and for some reason it didn't take, so here we go again...

Finally making more progress. My shoulder/arm issues are hampering me a bit, but I am under deadline to have this done by Christmas, as well as get as far as I can on Black Pearl, so pain not-withstanding It's onward I go. Flight wing is is done and is temporarily hangared at the base of my 1/4 finished HMS Victory. Lots of etch to go on this ship and those tiny parts are really testing me.

Use whatever is available. That's what I usually do...especially with a squirrely flight deck that doesn't want to set squarely. After some spot touches here and there it's in position nicely. Oh, that's Muscadine Red Wine just behind the ship. I'm not sure if my friends to the North or across the pond have ever tried it. It's a sweet Southern wine that is excellent after virtually any meal. If you make it to the south and find some, get it. You won't be sorry.

Most of my work has been on the superstructure. Just a bit more etch to go, then clearcoat, pinwash, and touchup. Then it's on to the final work and etch around the hull.

I've been knee-deep in the photo etch for several days now, but the flight deck has been on my mind. I'm going to be doing some weathering to the flight deck. I plan on adding some exhaust stains as well as some oil stains, but not to make the deck a mess...just to give it that "lived in" look.

I've been working on the starboard railings and liferaft racks today. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Well, as my shoulder has been having trouble healing properly, work has been out of the question....not that any jobs are available anyway. So with all this free time I have been spending no less than six hours a day on the models. Wasp has been coming along nicely.

Lots and lots of photoetch. These are for hose reels.

Rails, rails and more rails. I'm still not perfect at it, but I think it's a good first time out with the etch. I also decided to use the etch liferaft racks. Took hours to get them all installed.

Etch catch-nets really make the elevators pop.

And it was also time to muck up the deck a bit. I used black pastel chalk for this. Just scrap off and dust on, paying particular attention to the most obvious places that engine exhaust would dirty things up. I'll be doing another dusting once the superstructure is mounted, since exhaust would dirty it in places also.

Captain's Launch. I'm not too overly thrilled with it though. I'm going to work on it a bit more.

Superstructure mid-weathered. Still a bit to do. This was in the middle of the pinwash. I'll be dusting with chalk also.

Coming into the homestretch guys. I figure about 2 weeks of final work, then another week of touchups and I'll be ready to build the display case. Yep....I'm going to build a clear display case for it.

Rob, you are way too kind, given your always beautiful work. Thanks. The display case is pretty straight forward. I use plexi, and get Lowe's to cut the pieces for me, then use a good adhesive. That's pretty much it. If I'm feeling creative I'll add molding to the seams using basswood. I've got one here like that for a Locomotive I made my daughter a few years back. Let me get a pic of it and I'll post it.

And that styrofoam block has become my catch-all for small parts. At this moment it still has the deck vehicles for Wasp and also has the figurehead and decorative pieces for The Black Pearl. And catch-all is a good description since I've actually had my cat squeeze his big behind in there to catch some zzz's. Luckily there was nothing on the table at the time...

Blimey Phil, you got the hang of working with etched brass quickly!
Your sterling efforts do you much credit Sir...
The weathering is coming along just fine and is also very convincing.
Superb stuff!
Cheers,
Pete.

Best regards, Pete. (A.O.T.F.)
-------------------------------------------------------"In which it will be ready when it's ready"------------- Preserved Killick -------------

Well, it has been a while. This build has been challenging to say the least. My first outing with photo etch has been a combination of many headaches and a lot of enjoyment. So now the end is in sight.

With the deck done, I picked up a nice piece of select pine and routed it for the the base. I began work on a clear display case, but an error on my part ruined it. I was furious with myself. So the pine base will have to do for now. But since small aircraft are nasty dust collectors, a case is going to be necessary.

Next was to get the deck vehicles finished and decide on the arrangement of the aircraft. Of course the Osprey will be the feature, so they'll dominate. I also want to add the antenna, using stretched sprue. But since it has been many years since I've used this technique I'll be keeping the antenna to a minimum. I may add more later, but I don't want to chance messing up the island this close to Christmas. I also took care of the nameplate. My technique is to paint the whole plate, then, once dry I will scrape away the paint on the letters. It allows me more control and the plastic color is close to the grey of the ship, which is a nice match.

And so here you go. My first modern warship since 1989. It's not perfect by any means, but it will be a very nice gift and an even nicer mantlepiece.
I have a few little things to do, like trimming the stretched sprue, and a plethora of touch-ups (because of my shakey hand) but I am calling this build complete.

Thanks go out to everyone who kept me motivated with their replies. Pete, thanks for the opportunity to run a build log. It was a lot of fun. I have already lined up my next build, which I will start once I'm further along with The Black Pearl. I went into the stash and pulled out Revell's vintage 1/96 United States. I love the kit, which is merely the Constitution kit with some add-ons to represent Revell's "idea" of what the United State's roundhouse looked like. I'll be fully rigging the cannon and tossing the kit shrouds in favor of rigging my own. I will also be tossing the rather comical railing on the roundhouse. I'm hoping for an interesting discussion of how the railing "should" actually look as I will be scratchbuilding it. I'm also going to make some modifications to the bulkhead on the roundhouse, adding windows and making it a little more "decorative". I would also like to look at making it a cutaway so that the interior can be displayed, which would mean having to create and interior for the roundhouse. I haven't decided if it is to be a water or static display. Lots of things to do to this fine kit.

All in all it should be a fun and interesting build. If anyone comes across any historical information on this vessel, please let me know. The ship, along with her plans were burned, so there is very little information available. Pete, I'll let you know when I'm getting started if you want to have me keep a log on the build. I would be honored if you allowed me another one.